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Cheese from Georgia, Svaneti

Svanuri sulguniსვანური სულგუნი

Cow or goat milk, or a mix, is set with rennet at 30–35 °C; the curd is cut, rewarmed to 34–37 °C and most of the whey is drawn off. The curd is left to sour ('cheddarise') to 140–150 °T, then sliced, stretched in water at 75–80 °C, shaped into balls and brined at 17–18 % and 8–12 °C. It may be sold after 24 hours, or smoked to make shebolili.

Fully documentedCheeseGeographical indication (Georgia), registration No 11, 24 January 2012Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives temperatures, not doses. Cheeses weigh 2–6 kg.
Cow or goat milk, or both, from Lentekhi and Mestia[svan-gi]
Rennet (the specification calls the curd 'delamo', made from milk by enzyme)[svan-gi]
Brine of 17–18 % salt[svan-gi]
Start
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30–35 °C

What changes: Rennet sets the cow or goat milk

Step 1 of 6
Set with rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30–35 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Cow or goat milk, or a mix, is set with rennet at 30–35 °C; the curd is cut, rewarmed to 34–37 °C and most of the whey is drawn off. The curd is left to sour ('cheddarise') to 140–150 °T, then sliced, stretched in water at 75–80 °C, shaped into balls and brined at 17–18 % and 8–12 °C. It may be sold after 24 hours, or smoked to make shebolili. Salt is 17–18 % (Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia 2012).

Key numbers
Temperature30–35 °CSet[svan-gi]Set with rennet
Salt17–18 %Set[svan-gi]Shape and brine

What makes this one different

Made only in Svaneti from cow or goat milk, in large irregular cheeses of 2–6 kg, where generic Sulguni is usually a low cylinder of 0.25–2.2 kg; it may be smoked as shebolili.

Sale
Permitted after 24 hours
Composition
Moisture no more than 50 %; fat in dry matter no less than 45 %; salt 1–5 %
Size
Irregular shape, 2–6 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The specification sets no milk heat treatment; the curd is stretched in water at 75–80 °C and sold after at least 24 hours in brine.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

It was registered in Georgia as geographical indication No 11 on 24 January 2012. The Sulguni specification (No 10) carries the same date. A 2023 study counts Svanetian sulguni among the Georgian pasta-filata cheeses that hold geographical-indication status.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Process times
The sources we found give no figure for how long any of its steps take.
  1. [svan-gi] Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, 'Svanuri Sulguni', registered in Georgia as a geographical indication No 11 (24 January 2012), specification as listed under the UK-Georgia agreementspec
  2. [sulguni-gi] Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, 'Sulguni', registered in Georgia as a geographical indication No 10 (24 January 2012), specification as listed under the UK-Georgia agreementspec
  3. [nadirashvili2023-sensory] Nadirashvili N., Amiranashvili L., Chollet S., Vandenberghe M. 2023, Cross-cultural Study of Traditional Georgian Cheese Tenili Among Georgian and French Populations, International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research 71(1):52–57paper
  4. [elcheninov2024] Elcheninov A.G., Zayulina K.S., Klyukina A.A., Kremneva M.K., Kublanov I.V., Kochetkova T.V. 2024, Metagenomic Insights into the Taxonomic and Functional Features of Traditional Fermented Milk Products from Russia, Microorganisms 12(1):16paper